


The Lake House

by lovinthelads



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Gerard Pique/Cesc Fabregas - Freeform, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-08-13 01:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7957597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovinthelads/pseuds/lovinthelads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Single father, Cesc Fabregas has taken the advice of his boss, Raul, and is spending the summer with his daughter at the lake house, away from everything that reminds him of his former partner, Gerard Pique.  Will the change of scene be what Cesc need to heal?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

The Lake House

Cesc pulled the Range Rover up to the house which he'd passed by three times trying to locate the secluded drive. 

"Papi, is this IT?" Called a small voice from the back seat.

"I think so, Princessa," Cesc replied as he peered at it.

"It's big."

It was indeed. When his boss, Raul, offered him the house for the summer, calling it his "cottage", Cesc had imagined a slightly run down place. This was a gorgeous house that was anything but a cottage.

Cesc stopped and he heard the girl struggle in her booster seat, keen to get out after the long drive up from New York City. "Hold Franco's hand," Cesc said, distractedly.

"Marcos, Papi," Lia called as she was unbuckled.

Cesc flushed in embarrassment as he looked back at his latest manny, and attractive young man who's name was, indeed, Marcos. The last one had been Franco. Or was that two mannys ago? "Sorry."

Marcos pretended he'd not noticed as he helped Cesc's three year-old daughter down from the truck, taking her hand as Cesc dug into his pocket for the keys to the house. This was a good idea, he assured himself. He'd been going crazy in the city, every little thing reminding him of Gerard, every memory a painful one.

He's not coming back, Cesc told himself as he watched Lia stumble on the gravel drive as she drug Marcos toward the wrap around deck that appeared to lead around to the lake side of the house. Lia's recovering, why can't you?

Cesc unlocked the front door into a wonderland of lake house. Everything was shiplap and anchors. Like a bad episode of Fixer Upper had exploded inside. The downstairs was open concept, leading straight into the living room with a kitchen, the wide open back of the house full of windows that looked out over the lake. Damn, Cesc thought as he walked through, spying Lia and Marcos coming around the side of the house onto the deck which had a stairway leading down to the dock. There was a decent sized powerboat moored there which Cesc also had the keys to.

He walked to the back door, running his fingers across the white granite countertops, leaving the keys sitting as he went to open the back doors. They slid open, panel after panel, to leave the whole back of the house open to the deck.

"PAPI I WANT TO GO ON THE BOAT!"

"Can you drive a boat?" Cesc joked to Marcos who held fast to Lia who looked in danger of going headlong off the deck.

"Uh, yeah," Marcos said. "My parents have always had a boat."

Cesc was once again painfully reminded how little he knew about the young man who spent more time with his daughter than he did. He came from boat money? He knew, that like Cesc, he came from Spain, and he'd taken the job as a manny to move America and work on his English. More than once Cesc had fallen into speaking Spanish with him until Marcos had pointedly switched to English. Not rudely, just yes, we both speak Spanish, but...

"MARCOS BOAT," Lia demanded.

"We have to have lunch, Princessa," Cesc said as he looked over the lake for another long moment before turning back to the house.

As Raul had promised, the kitchen was stocked, and Cesc made them sandwiches as Marcos and Lia unpacked the car, dragging the bags up to the rooms Cesc pointed out. There was a master suite and five other bedrooms. Marcos took one adjacent to Lia's and set Cesc's bags in the master.

Lia chattered as they ate, explaining to them both how she was going to the lake as soon as they were done eating, but even as she finished slices of apple, Marcos watched her eyelids droop from the long morning. She was half asleep when he pulled her out of the booster seat and went upstairs without complaint.

Marco was so good with her, Cesc thought, wondering at the fit she always threw when Cesc tried to put her to bed. He'd tried...Gerard had always been the one to put her to bed. Gerard hadn't worked, and he spent so much time with her. So when it was just Cesc and Lia, he'd really tried for the first month, only sending Lia to daycare when he'd been at work, but he just couldn't handle it. He couldn't be at work all day and then listen to Lia cry for Gerard all night, not understanding why he'd gone away.

Lia didn't ask for him any more and Cesc was grateful. He was alone late at night now with his thoughts of Gerard.

After loading the dishwasher, Cesc cracked open beer and went out to the deck under the dappled sunlight of the afternoon. I was going to be a warm day, but the breeze off the lake made it feel like heaven. He walked down to the dock and took a good look around. Directly across the lake was a large resort with a beach. Raul had told him that the resort was happy to have the locals use the beach and Cesc knew that Lia would become a regular fixture. She loved nothing more than her feet in the sand. Gerard had made a beach baby of her with their frequent weekends in the Hamptons. 

Stop thinking about him, Cesc ordered his brain as he took a long drink. There was nothing here to remind him of Gerard. Nothing. He'd even packed a bag for Lia full of new clothes his mother had sent, nothing left that Gerard had bought her. The toy dog she used to carry was even replaced with a shiny new panda bear.

"Hey Nando! The new neighbor is drinking before four o'clock on a week day. He's now my best friend."

Startled, Cesc looked up to see a long, lean figure walking down the hill between Raul's house and the one next door. Raul had told him the neighbors were friendly, but the shirtless, tattooed man in low cut swimming trunks was smiling like they were old friends.

A blond man leaned over the deck and waved down at him, similarly attired and inked. "Sergio, don't scare off the nice man."

"Hi, I'm Sergio," he introduced himself needlessly. 

"Cesc," he said as he offered his beerless hand to the attractive man.

"You the friend of Raul's?" Sergio asked. "He told us he was loaning it to a friend for the summer."

"Yes," Cesc said. "I'm here with my daughter, Lia, and her manny."

"Manny?" Sergio asked. "Damn, Nando won't let me get one for our pair."

Nando had arrived. "Nora is twelve. She looks after Junior when we go out. We do not need a nanny."

"Manny," Sergio corrected as he slid his arm around Fernando and kissed his cheek. "Some hot young man candy to check out."

"You can check out Cesc's," Fernando graciously offered. "I saw him earlier. He's definite man candy."

Cesc let out a chuckle. "You can't sleep with the help."

"Who said sleep with," Sergio said with a shrug. "I just like to look."

"Can we invite you over to dinner tomorrow?" Fernando asked. "I figure tonight you'll need to get settled in. There's a great pizza place in town, Gigi's. I'm sure Raul left the number. Tomorrow I'll set Sergio to work on the grill and you can bring your daughter and the man candy over."

"Stop calling him that," Cesc said. "He's new and I already called him by the wrong name once today. You call him Man Candy and he's liable to quit on me!"

"Then we can hire him!" Sergio laughed as Fernando shook his head. "Nando works in the city three days a week, and he seems to think I'm after every hot young stud within a hundred miles of the lake."

"I do not," Fernando said even as he held tight to Sergio in front of this attractive new neighbor who'd not mentioned a partner.

"I'm officially on vacation for three months," Cesc said. 

Even after he'd begged Raul to let him bring his laptop and work from the lake a few days a week, Raul had declined. "You need a break. You need to heal. You are hereby ordered to work on that novel you've always talked about, run every day, and spend some time getting to know your daughter."

"I've tried talking Nando into that," Sergio said.

"I'm taking three weeks in August!" Fernando protested.

"Nando is a very important accountant," Sergio said. 

"Math," Cesc nodded sagely. "I'm bad at math."

"What do you do?"

"I'm in corporate acquisitions."

"I have no idea what that means," Sergio said.

"It's okay, I don't either," Cesc winked at Nando. He liked these two. "Hey, you want to come up for a beer?"

"PAPI YOU SAID YOU WOULD TAKE US TO THE BEACH."

A brunette preteen leaned over the railing.

"The offspring bellows," Nando said regretfully. "I'll have to take a raincheck on the beer."

"Dinner tomorrow," Cesc agreed. "Can I bring anything?"

"Beer?" Sergio said. "Anything weird your kid likes if she's picky."

"Sergio," Fernando chided again.

"Look, I spent the first four years of Junior's life with a box of Cheerios in the back seat of my car in case he refused to eat whatever someone made for dinner. I'm just saying..."

Cesc grinned. "She eats anything...we..." Cesc stumbled on the we, "...I used to give her sushi when she was barely two and she never batted an eyelash."

"Good to know," Sergio said. 

"PAPI."

"We'll see you tomorrow," Fernando said and Sergio waved as they headed back up the hill to where the impatient child stood in her bikini with a towel over her shoulder. A smaller boy, maybe about five or six stood peering under the railing, waving as the pair of men returned.

Cesc turned back to the lake. Yes. New neighbors. New friends. New people for Lia to know. new people for Cesc to talk to who didn't know anything about him. Didn't give him the sympathetic look every time he struggled. 

One day at a time his therapist had told him. If you can just get through one day at a time you will make it through.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cesc tries to find his way in a new place.

The first morning Cesc awoke at the lake house, he was disoriented. Sun was in his eyes through the blinds he’d left open to let a cool breeze in the night before. He blinked and rolled to the side as his brain registered the unfamiliar room. Too large in the way that master suites were made to be these days, it lacked a sense of coziness that Cesc preferred, leaving him feeling exposed.

He closed his eyes again and realized he had nothing he had to do today. It, too, was unfamiliar. When did he have nothing at all to do?

Little feet cam pounding down the hallway as Lia’s voice came to him. She was checking the other bedrooms from the sound of it, unable to locate him.

“PAPI?” she cried, sounding distressed at his disappearance.

“In here, Princess,” he replied and the door was flung open to reveal a swirl of pink.

“Papi!” Lia said as she clambered onto the bed with him. “This house is too big.”

“it really is,” Cesc agreed as he hugged her and held up the covers so she could snuggle in with him. He closed his eyes and held her close. 

“Marcos is making breakfast,” Lia reported. 

“Is he?” Cesc asked and glanced at the clock to realize it was after nine.

“Pancakes,” Lia said.

“Mmm, I love pancakes,” Cesc said. “What do you want to do today, Princess?”

“SWIMMING!”

“Swimming it is,” Cesc agreed. 

Lia pulled him from the bed and barely let him pause to pull on a t-shirt before dragging him downstairs. 

“Good morning,” Marcos said. He was already dressed, standing over the stove, flipping a perfect pancake. “There’s coffee.”

“Thank you,” Cesc said as he watched Lia pull herself up onto a stool opposite Marcos. He’d poured her a glass of orange juice which Lia carefully picked up with two hands.

“I careful, Marcos,” she assured him.

“They only have glasses,” Marcos said to Cesc as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Lia is used to plastic.”

“We can get some,” Cesc said, but even as they watched, Lia took a drink and set the glass back down proudly.

“Good job,” Marcos praised and slid a perfect pancake onto the already perfect stack.

“I careful,” Lia smiled happily as she went for the grapes on a plate nearby.

Cesc sat with Lia as Marcos served up the breakfast. The pancakes tasted as good as they looked, and all three were soon full to bursting.

“I thought we might go over to the beach at the resort today,” Cesc said. “Spend the morning there, maybe have lunch and come back for a n-a-p before the cookout with the neighbors tonight.”

“I don’t want a nap, Papi,” Lia announced as she licked syrup off her fork.

“Who said the nap was for you?” Marcos teased. “Papi needs naps, too.”

“He’s old,” Lia agreed. “We can stay at the beach while you nap, Papi.”

“We’ll see,” Cesc negotiated even as he shook his head. She could spell? 

Marcos went to get Lia ready for the beach as Cesc cleared away the dishes and loaded the dishwasher.

A pile of sand toys were discovered in the hall closet and Lia struggled to the car with a towel, a bucket full of toys, and a shovel. Marcos offered to help but was informed that Lia was more than capable of doing it herself.

Cesc packed a bag for himself and they headed out. The lake was a fairly good size, so it took a good fifteen minutes to get around to the side where the resort was located. They passed a couple of grocery stores and a pharmacy on the way. Cesc made a note of where they were and tried to remind himself to stop on the way back for beer.

Showing the resident pass at the gate to the resort, Cesc was allowed to park on the grounds.

“This place is nice,” Marcos commented as he looked up at the main resort building.

“This is a really nice area,” Cesc commented. All of the houses he’d seen so far looked like they cost in the millions. He knew his boss was well-to-do, but this place was amazing. And unlike the Hamptons, not nearly so crowed.

Cesc had to grip Lia’s hand to keep the little girl from pelting across the parking lot to where she could see the beach. Marcos followed with the beach bags as Cesc let himself be drug to the promised land.

“Beeeeeeeeeeach,” Lia squealed in delight.

Cesc looked across the clearly manmade beach with it’s pure white sand. There were about a dozen or so groups of people scattered around, several with kids about Lia’s age: more than on with someone who appeared to be the n/manny.

There was a life guard in a chair though no one was currently braving the undoubtably chilly lake water this early in the season.

Lia kicked off her sandals and dumped the bucket of toys onto the sand while Cesc laid out towels and Marcos set up two chairs for he and Cesc.

“Does she have sunscreen?” Cesc asked as he eyed his daughter’s pale winter skin.

“She does,” Marcos said as he offered the bottle to Cesc who had and equally wintery cast to his skin.

They used to go to the beach all the time, Cesc thought. He’d come home from work on Friday and their bags were at the door. Gerard had them packed for a weekend at the Hampton or, in the winter, a break in the sun.

He sat and watched as Marcos joined Lia in the sand. He let Lia be in charge, stacking sand toys and digging holes. When Lia tired of that, Cesc took her swimming in the lake. Lia didn’t care for the cold water and returned to to the castle building. 

Cesc went to get them drinks as the sun got higher. He thought perhaps he’d have to start packing a cooler for them, but today they could be lazy. He knew he had money, but since he wasn’t working right now, it seemed silly to be wasteful.

He approached the concession stand where a bored looking young man was leaned against the counter, reading a novel.

“Hello,” he said, placing a bookmark and smiling at him. “Can I help you?”

“Uh, sure,” Cesc said as he looked at the menu. They had all manner of cold drinks in a cooler and a tray of what looked like healthy, organic snacks. “No popcorn and nachos?”

The young man laughed. “We’re devoted to healthy living here at Pinewood Resort,” he parroted a company line. “But the gas station up the road stocks Mountain Dew and Skittles.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Cesc grinned and then ordered three bottles of water and took a couple of the least offensive looking granola bars. He saw that the his name was Bojan.

“If you come back in the afternoon we do have an organic chicken sandwich that isn’t bad. If you add a whole lot of gluten free mayonnaise.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Cesc said as he collected his low carb snacks and made his way back to Marcos and Lia.

“Papi,” Lia said. “Marcos is bad at sand castles.”

“Hey!” Marcos returned, but the evidence was there in front of them. Lia’s castle was taller and decorated with some plastic flags. Marcos’s appeared to have fallen over.

“He’s not good,” Cesc agreed and handed over the water to Marcos before opening a bottle and offering it to Lia.

The healthy snacks didn’t tide over any of them, and a little after one, they packed up to go get something more substantial to eat for lunch. Lia insisted that they would go back to the beach after they ate, but once again, by the time they had arrived back at the house after lunch, she was all but passed out.

“I think I’m going to go for a run,” Marcos said as he returned down stairs from putting Lia to bed. 

“Oh, sure, yeah,” Cesc said. Back in New York, they’d had a general schedule for when Marcos wasn’t responsible for Lia, but Cesc had said they’d just see how things went at the lake. “You know, you don’t have to come to the barbecue tonight if you don’t want to.”

“Nah, I’ll come if that’s alright,” Marcos said. “I’d like to make some friends up here, too.”

Cesc nodded. “Sure, yeah…and…thanks…for everything. You’re really good with Lia.”

“She’s a good kid,” Marcos said as he put in his headphones and stepped out of the house.

Cesc happened to glance at his ass on his way out and was duly impressed. Dayum.

He put the six packs of beer he’d bought in the fridge, hoping he’d gotten a good variety. He was a fan of small breweries and the guy at the grocery said this one was local and pretty good.

Picking up his phone, he was shocked to see he had no new email, but one text. It was from Raul:

“I had your work email shut off. Everything is forwarded to me. Now put away your phone and go have a beer on the deck.”

Cesc smiled. Damn, Cesc knew him too well. He set down the phone and did as ordered.

* * * *

“Hey, there’s my new favorite neighbor,” Sergio greeted as Cesc, Marcos, and Lia appeared on their deck.

“HI I’M LIA,” she announced as she stepped up to Sergio.

“Hello, Lia,” Sergio said as he crouched down to look at her, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “I’m Sergio.”

“Hi,” she smiled. “This is my Papi and that is my Marcos,” she said and gestured.

“I’ve met your papi, he’s very nice,” Sergio said.

“Yes,” Lia agreed.

“I’ll tell you what. Nora and Leo are inside playing a game. Do you want to join them?”

“I like games. Can my Marcos come with me?”

Sergio glanced up at Marcos. “If he wants to.”

“Sure,” Marcos said as he offered his hand to Lia.

The pair disappeared and Cesc offered the beers to Sergio.

“Oh, Pinewood Brewery, I love this stuff. Oh, yes you got the IPA. You’re the best, Cesc,” Sergio said as he carried the beers to a cooler and put them on ice. He liberated two and offered one up to Cesc.

They took seats on the deck and Cesc glanced around. “Where’s Fernando?”

“He had to make a last minute run to the store. Someone forgot to get hotdog buns,” Sergio said, looking slightly guilty.

“You should have let me know,” Cesc said. “We have some. Lia could eat her weight in hot dogs.”

“What is it with kids and processed meat?” Sergio wondered. “I offer my kids Angus steak burgers and they go for the hot dog every time.”

“At least it’s cheap,” Cesc said. “Can you imagine if you had a kid who refused to eat anything but lobster?”

Sergio nearly spit out his beer. “Can you even imagine? Maybe I buy some extra chicken nuggets and be grateful.”

Cesc laughed with him. They heard a truck pulling up and Sergio rose to see if Fernando needed any help.

Cesc saw two unfamiliar faces come around the side of the house with Sergio and Fernando.

“Cesc! Come meet your other neighbors. This is Iker and Pepe.”

Cesc stared at Iker a moment too long. He knew the handsome man from somewhere, but he couldn’t immediately place him.

“You’re staying in Raul’s house?” Pepe asked, the bald man was cheerful and Cesc immediately took a liking to him.

“Yeah, I work for Raul,” Cesc said vaguely, and in that moment, as a look crossed over Iker’s face and Cesc knew…

Two years ago, in Raul’s office. Iker had been there. Cesc had seen Iker arguing with Raul through the glass window. Iker was angry. Raul came to tears. When Cesc had asked Raul about it later, Raul had blown it off.

“Just an old friend. It was nothing, really.”

Cesc blinked away the memory. He looked at Iker. “Have we met?”

Iker’s face cleared and he smiled. “I don’t think so.”

“Let’s get you both a beer,” Sergio said and the moment was lost, but Cesc was intrigued.

What did Iker have to hide?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora's feeling left out

Nora had gotten tired of hanging out with the babies after dinner as Leo and Lia played endless games of CandyLand. The adults all sat on the back deck in the fading moonlight, voices louder for all the beer they’d been drinking. Nora had wanted to invite her best friend Summer, but Daddy had said no, tonight was for meeting the neighbors. Didn’t she want to get to know the new neighbors?

Translate: can you keep Leo out of our hair so we can have some adult time?

Nora often wondered that if she’d been the boy if she’d have been expected to constantly be the babysitter. Nora was very much into Feminism.

She wandered to a spot on the edge of the deck where she could just overhear the adults, but out of sight of her dads. The light didn’t reach this far and she could observe without being observed.

She’d been secretly hoping that after dinner the manny from next door would come back to join them, but he’d gravitated to the adults just as Nora wished she could. Just to be included.

Marcos was hot, Nora thought to herself from her perch, a half empty bottle of Gatorade rolling between in her hands. She’d texted Summer earlier about him, but had been unable to get a picture to send. Summer had replied quickly and then not again. Her dad must have taken her and her brother to dinner. He always made them hand over their phones before they sat down to eat. Her dad Sergio never could keep off his own phone long enough to make this rule even close to enforceable. Even now she could see its glow in his hands.

She gazed at Marcos. He was looking at Cesc, Lia’s dad. Cesc was sort of attractive if you were in to dorks. Cesc was looking at Iker. Nora rolled her eyes. Iker was so in love with Pepe it kinda made you nauseous to watch the two. Cesc would have better luck trying to get her dads apart.

And they’d promised her that was never going to happen again.

No, Marcos wasn’t like the rest of them. He was younger. Even as the older men laughed and joked, he smiled along, but never participated. He needed someone much younger. He was probably like eighteen. That was barely older than Nora.

“PAPI,” a crying Lia stumbled onto the deck with Leo following.

Cesc caught her up examining her for physical ailments. “What’s wrong princess?”

“LEO IS MEAN.”

Fernando was giving his son a glare, but Leo’s eyes were wide in that way he got whenever Nora accused him of something that she had actually done. The kid really needed to learn.

“I didn’t do anything! I drew the car for the Peanut Acres and she got mad and threw the board at me!”

Fernando glanced at Cesc warily as he didn’t want his kid to be accusing Cesc’s kid of something and some parents way, way overreacted to this kind of thing.

Cesc hugged Lia and shook his head at Fernando with a slight eye roll that clearly said “my child is prone to fits of drama, do excuse”. “You know what it sounds like to me?” Cesc said.

“What?” Lia asked tearfully.

“It sounds like it’s time for you to go to bed,” he said as he kissed the top of her head. “But first I think you need to say sorry to Leo for throwing his game.”

“HE WAS MEAN.”

Leo looked helpless. “I…I just said that it wasn’t my fault I got the card she wanted!”

“It’s okay,” Fernando said as he pulled the boy into his lap. “Lia’s tired.”

Nora sighed as she flipped her hair back and slid off the chair she’d been perched on. In about ten seconds, her dads would be calling for her. She’d be getting the “why weren’t you looking after your brother” glare as though she, rather than they, was the responsible adult in the house. If she could just get to her room…

“Nora!”

Dammit.

Nora ducked through the side door and came out the back. “I’ll pick up the game,” she said, annoyed.

Sergio grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. In her ear he whispered, “No one is mad at you, don’t get an attitude.”

Nora tried to glare at him but she softened as soon as he tugged her into his lap like she was Leo’s age again. But then she glanced up and saw Marcos picking Lia up out of Cesc’s lap and pulled away.

She wasn’t a baby.

“I can take her,” Cesc was insisting, but Marcos waved him away. 

“You enjoy your neighbors. Lia and I have a book we need to finish, don’t we.”

“Yes,” Lia agreed even as her head drooped.

“I’ll be back to kiss you good night,” Cesc promised even as Sergio got up to get another round of beers.

“I think you both might want to head up to bed?” Fernando said to Nora who watched Marcos leave.

Nora mutely agreed as she lead Leo back into the house. She helped him pick up CandyLand and even put it back up on the shelf where it belonged. But even as she watched him go up the stairs, Nora slipped back out of the house to the porch that faced Cesc’s house. She saw the light upstairs where Marcos must be putting Lia to bed. 

She stood and had a daydream about her and Marcos putting their child to bed, but it was interrupted by Iker and Pepe who had called their goodbyes and were headed around to Nora’s side of the house.

She was hidden in the shadows, but she could hear the low argument that began between the two men.

“Cesc kept looking at you all night,” Pepe was grumbling.

“Are you mad he thought I was hotter than you?” Iker said as he attempted to make light of the same thoughts Nora’d had earlier.

“I’m just saying that little twerp better not have any designs on my husband,” Pepe said as he pulled Iker to him.

“I thought he was cute,” Iker teased. This caused Pepe to growl low in his throat and Nora closed her eyes as the two men started to kiss.

Seriously. And adults accused teenagers of being horny.

Thankfully, the pair broke apart and departed. 

Nora nearly escaped back into the house, but then she saw the light go off in Lia’s room. She paused to see if Marcos headed to his own bedroom, but she saw him through the glass doors in the main room of the house.

He retrieved a beer from the fridge and was staring at his phone. He set the beer on the counter as he appeared to send a text. He took a drink as he waited for a response and then laughed as he sent another. 

Marcos disappeared from view as he stepped out at the lake side of the house. For a long moment, Nora considered sneaking over to talk to him, but as she heard Cesc’s voice headed her way, she realized that he was getting ready to head home.

Which meant she had about five minutes before a father came upstairs to tuck her in.

Nora made for the stairs and got up them before Fernando and Sergio came inside with empty beer bottles. She had her teeth brushed and was in bed by the time a soft knock came on her door.

“Yeah?”

Fernando’s head peered in. “You good?”

Nora nodded, her book in her hand though she realized it was upside down.

Fernando came into the room to sit on her bed. He pushed her hair back from her forehead.

“Sorry tonight wasn’t much fun for you,” he admitted. “I thought Pepe and Iker might bring over their kids.”

Nora shrugged. Grecia and Alma weren’t Nora’s favorite people. She thought about mentioning the fact that she’d asked if Summer could come over, but she thought better of it.

“We going to the beach tomorrow?” Fernando asked as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

“Yes,” Nora smiled. “Summer is going to be there.”

“Then we must!” Fernando smiled as he got up. “Nite, Nora-Dora.”

“Night, Papi.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bojan meets Marcos
> 
> (sorry this has been away for so long! the struggle is real...)

Bojan leaned on the counter. It was a Saturday and the beach was already starting to fill. The forecast called for a sunny hot day and the weekenders would be out in force. He had the cooler stocked and the organic snacks on hand.

As far as summer jobs went, it wasn’t the worst you could have. His dad was the maintenance manager of the resort and he’d gotten Bojan this summer job before he headed off to college. They were paying him better than minimum and he was able to get some of his reading done for the courses he was taking this semester. He was going to major in economics, and the 101 textbook was over 1000 pages. Most of it seemed to be what he’d learned in high school so far, but he was only on chapter three. Micro and Macro economies? Please. 

He sold two bottles of water to a hassled looking mom. It was barely eleven am on Saturday. Too early for hassled, he thought off handedly as he looked back to his book, but he soon lost interest again and his gaze wandered to the beach. He spotted Nora Torres and Summer Terry huddled behind the life guard chair. He wondered if they had yet another crush on this summer’s life guard, but it was currently unoccupied. 

No, they were peering across the sand over at the handsome dad he’d met yesterday and his seriously sexy manny. Yeah, I’m with you on that one, girls, Bojan thought with a grin. I hope he’s more my type than yours.

Bojan went back to cost minimization and got lost in the text, until a shadow fell over his book.

“Hi.”

Bojan looked up to see the hot manny. 

“H-h-hi,” he stuttered into the brown eyes. Damn. Summer and Nora had more cool than he did.

“Econ?” the man asked looking at Bojan’s book. “Brutal.”

Bojan shrugged. “It’s just 101.”

“You go to college around here?” the man asked. His accent was Spanish which only served to make him sexier.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nora and Summer approaching, as though they suddenly realized that they, too, needed refreshments. This was going to get awkward. More awkward.

“Uh..I start at NYU in the fall.”

“Cool,” he said. “I just finished at the University of Madrid.”

Bojan sighed inwardly. Older. Probably had no time for newly graduated high school students. 

“I’m Marcos,” he said with a smile.

“Bojan. Can I get you anything?”

“A couple bottles of water,” Marcos said. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the girls. “Hi Nora.”

“Hi!” Nora said and she and Summer fell into a fit of giggles.

At least Bojan had only stuttered.

Bojan set two bottles on the counter and took the bill Marcos offered him.

“Who’s your friend?” Marcos asked with a smile causing further hysteria.

“I’m Summer,” the blond girl said with a smile.

“Nice to meet you,” Marcos said. “I better get back before Lia knocks over my sandcastle.”

“We could….help,” Nora said quickly and Summer looked alarmed.

“Come on,” Marcos gestured as he took his change. “See you later,” he said with a wink at Bojan.

Bojan had to bite his lip not to giggle.

“God damn,” came a low whistle behind Bojan, and he turned to see one of the lifeguards, David Silva eyeing Marcos. “That’s a pretty one. Is he a guest?”

“Dunno,” Bojan said. “He’s the manny for that guy over there? With Nora and Summer and the little girl?”

“Oooh, suppose they’re the ones staying in the Gonzales place?”

“Raul sold the house?”

“No, he’s loaned it to a friend. Honestly, Bojan, do you listen to none of the gossip?”

Bojan shrugged. “I don’t spend all my time at the pub, no.”

David leaned on the counter and stole an apple from the fruit basket. “It’s a seedy place, but they got buckets of Bud Light for $10 on Saturdays. If you’d stop studying for five seconds. You haven’t even started at university.”

“I have to work full time to just pay the tuition. I’m going to be in debt up to my eyeballs for room and board. I gotta get reading done this summer or I’ll never keep up.”

“One night out won’t send you into financial ruin. I’ll spot you a couple beers,” David said.

Bojan shrugged. “I’ll see.”

“You’ll see,” David sighed. “Well, we’ll all be there about nine.”

Bojan watched David take off for the life guard stand. It wasn’t that Bojan didn’t like his coworkers, but they went out every night. Even at $10 a bucket of beer, that added up quick.

Never mind he was only 18 and a lot of the other guys were over 21. David said it didn’t matter, but…

“Apparently we now need more water.”

Marcos was back and Bojan blinked up at him. “What?”

“You were somewhere else,” Marcos said with a smile.

“Oh…my friends were talking about going to the bar tonight…”

“That sounds like fun. Where do you all go to?”

“Uh…it’s called the Fish Shack? It’s about a mile south of here?”

“Cool,” Marcos said as he handed Bojan cash for the water. “Tonight? Maybe I’ll see you there.”

“Sure,” Bojan said.

And now he was going to have to go to the pub. He edged the tip jar further out and smiled at the next person who arrived.

* * * *

“Off tonight?” Cesc asked as Marcos appeared downstairs in a fresh pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that showed off everything good about his chest and arms.

“Yeah, that’s okay?” Marcos asked, realizing he hadn’t said anything to Cesc.

“Of course,” Cesc said with a smile. “I mean, I’m a little jealous here alone on a Saturday night with a sleeping toddler, but…”

Marcos smiled. “I guy I met today mentioned a bar near the resort where a lot of the people hang out. I thought I might stop in and…”

A flare of jealousy lit in Cesc, but he did his best to ignore it. He was jealous that Marcos had someone to think about in his future rather than his past. “Was he hot?”

“Uh..yeah,” Marcos went a little pink.

“Good luck. I told Lia I’d take her out for doughnuts tomorrow morning, so if you need to sleep in…”

“Thanks,” Marcos said. “I probably won’t be out too late.”

“Have fun,” Cesc said as an Uber pulled up to the house. Even in the middle of nowhere you could book a ride.

The Uber dropped Marcos off at a seedy looking joint that appeared filled to the rafters. He made his way around to the back deck where the lights and music filled the air. The deck reached over the lake and there was beautiful view across the water. This place didn’t need fancy anything. They had beer and a view and no neighbors to bother with the noise.

The bouncer nodded to him without checking his ID. Apparently the man was there to control the crowd rather than the consumption on alcohol. Marcos could tell the crowd was a young one. At 24, he might have been one of the older people there, but the music was good and the crowd was happy. He made his way over to the bar and ordered a Bud Light. He didn’t suppose this place had anything like the good craft beers Cesc always kept at home.

He handed the bartender a five and waved away any change. Sipping his beer, he stepped away from the crush at the bar and looked for a place to settle.

“You came!”

Marcos looked over his left shoulder and saw Bojan beaming up at him. He’d already had a beer or three.

“Hey,” Marcos said with a smile. 

“Wanna join us?” Bojan asked as he gestured to a table where several young men sat, a spare couple of chairs squished in the back corner. Bojan must have been saving him a seat.

“Sure,” Marcos smiled. The kid was cute. Kid. God, he was what, eighteen? But Marcos had left a boyfriend in Madrid who’d been way too mature for his own good. He found joy in nothing, wanted to talk about retirement savings accounts, and contemplated insurance choices. They weren’t sixty for fuck’s sake. 

Fun. He wanted some fun.

Bojan made a flurry of introductions, but the only name he caught was David, who was crammed at his other side.

“You’re a nanny?” David asked him with a slight smile.

Marcos knew David was trying to insult him, but he shrugged. “Heck yeah I am. Free room and board, got me a visa to come to America, and I look after one toddler. I live in a lakeside cottage and get paid. What do you do?”

David burst out laughing. “Fair enough, bro. I’m a lifeguard.”

Marcos smiled at him. “You need to work on your tan.”

“Season just started.”

Bojan shot David a glare for monopolizing Marcos’s attention. 

Marcos turned back to Bojan. “You were right, this place is pretty good. You guys come a lot?”

“They come every night,” Bojan gestured around the table. 

“He studies constantly,” David teased.

“Where are you going to uni?” Marcos asked David who blushed a little. 

“Uh, well, I’m not really sure what I want to study, so I was going to do some online courses and work this year.”

Marcos nodded. He got that. “I did business but, you know. Uni doesn’t always take you where you end up going.”

“I always knew what I wanted to do,” Bojan chimed in. “I’ve always been into math and stuff.”

Marcos smiled. “I went to uni determined I was going to be a lawyer. Didn’t work out. You gotta be flexible.”

“You have a business degree and you ended up as a manny in the middle of nowhere New York,” Bojan smiled. “And it worked out for you.”

“Exactly. There’s nothing wrong with a plan, but when life takes you somewhere else, go with it.”

Bojan got a little lost in the smile Marcos was giving him. God damn the guy was hot. Hot guys usually didn’t look at Bojan.

“You wanna dance?”

“Sure,” Marcos said as he drained his beer.

Bojan and Marcos disappeared into the crowd and David grabbed another beer out of one of the buckets they had on the table.

“Where the hell did Bojan pull that?” asked the man next to him whose name was Jordi.

“At the snack bar,” David said. “I thought lifeguards were supposed to get all the good guys.”

“That’s why I became a life guard,” Jordi said with a frown.

“We get teenaged girls giggling at us,” David said. “Maybe we need to step up our game.”

“Or see if Marcos has any hot friends…”

On the dance floor, Marcos had his hands on Bojan’s hips, and Bojan’s brain was scrambled by hormones and alcohol. Was he doing this right? Was he dancing right? Did Marcos know he liked him? Oh, Marcos was doing that thing with his hips, did Bojan do that thing too? What did any of this mean?

After several songs, Marcos leaned down. “Want a beer?”

“Uh, sure,” panted Bojan. Crap. He was a crappy dancer and Marcos was going to ditch him. He was a stupid loser and a….

“Sorry I’m such a crap dancer,” Marcos said as they waited at the bar. “I know, I’m Spanish, but some things are not as genetic as you might think.”

“You? I thought I was the crappy dancer!” Bojan laughed to think that Marcos had been as self conscious as he was the whole time. How was Marcos not confident? Weren’t older, hot guys supposed to always be confident?

Bojan offered to get the drinks, but Marcos waved him away. He grabbed a pair of beers and led Bojan to the water’s edge where they found a space to lean on the railings. It was a little quieter at this end of the bar.

“Your friend David is a bit bitchy, isn’t he?”

Bojan grinned. “He’s alright. He and the other guys are all into partying this summer and well, they think I’m boring.”

“You’ve got passion for something,” Marcos said. “Most guys think it’s so cool to not give a shit about anything. It’s so boring. Give me a guy with passion any day.”

Bojan flushed a little.

“I mean, I like a night out. I like to dance even though I’m bad at it, but it’s just one thing to do. I mean, go to a movie. Stay in and play a board game.”

“Read an economics textbook?”

“Sure,” Marcos nudged him with his elbow.

Marcos and Bojan danced some more and shared a few more beers. Bojan was lightheaded and tired, but happy as the last call came. He realized his crowd had all taken off, but it was just a mile walk back to the resort where they all lived in some old cabins. 

“Walk me home?” Bojan asked as Marcos was checking out the Uber app.

“Sure,” Marcos said and ordered a car for the resort. It was going to be half an hour anyway.

Bojan led the way up a path years of summer help had created through the woods at the side of the lake. Walking on the side of the road was a dangerous prospect with the tipsy drivers leaving the pub and a narrow lane.

When they arrived at Bojan’s cabin, Marcos lingered for a moment.

“I had fun,” Marcos said as he licked his lips, wondering if Bojan would faint if he kissed him. The sweet nerves of the boy were too adorable.

“Me t-too.”

Yeah, he probably would. Marcos smiled. “Maybe we can meet up again next week?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll see you at the beach?” 

“Yeah,” Bojan said, his heart sinking as he realized that Marcos wasn’t going to kiss him. Impulsively, he grabbed the front of Marcos’s shirt and kissed him hard.

Marcos was not unwilling and returned the kiss. It was a bit sloppy, but all in all, he’d had worse.

After a moment, Bojan let go, but Marcos leaned in, extending the kiss a few more beats before straightening up.

“Good night,” Marcos said with a grin.

“Nite…”


End file.
